"We are in a great position to be in the fight tomorrow" - Sergio Perez optimistic of Red Bull's chances in the 2022 F1 Imola GP after securing P3 finish in Sprint

Sergio Perez managed to finish third in the first sprint race of the 2022 season at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit this Saturday after a disappointing qualifying session yesterday.

In a post-sprint media interaction, the Mexican spoke about the significant recovery he made in today's race and his expectations for tomorrow, saying:

“Yeah I think it was important to minimize qualifying from yesterday. With the red flags out there we didn’t put the lap together when it mattered. But today we managed to recover and we are in a position to be in the fight tomorrow.”

When asked about the possibility of maximizing the points for Red Bull in the main race tomorrow, Sergio Perez said:

“It would be ideal to get a 1-2 that would be great for Red Bull but maybe not for the Tifosi but we will try.”

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen started today's session from pole but devastatingly lost the lead to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on the opening lap. The Dutchman, however, managed to take back the position in the final few minutes of the 21-lap sprint and will be starting the main race on Sunday from the front of the grid.

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"Everyone is quite close" - Sergio Perez on Red Bull/Ferrari battle

Ferrari is leading the championship standings by a significant margin and absolutely dominated the race at Albert Park two weeks ago. With pole position for Max Verstappen in qualifying this weekend as well as the sprint race, however, it is safe to say that Red Bull is the only team that has a chance to challenge the Prancing Horse.

Ahead of the Imola GP, Sergio Perez reflected on his weekend in Melbourne and commented on the battle against Ferrari, saying:

“I feel we are close? I think, certainly in Melbourne, they were probably two steps ahead, especially on race day they were very strong. I think our deg was quite high come race day. We have some understanding on what went wrong. Hopefully we are able to fix it and be a lot closer on Sunday and in qualifying.”

He further went on to say:

“Yeah, we’ll see what we are able to do this weekend. I think everyone is quite close. I think the pecking order we saw last weekend like anyone can do a really, really good lap time in qualifying and in the race so I think as the season is progressing, the teams are getting closer.”

Red Bull and Ferrari will now take the first two rows of the grid ahead of the main race at Imola tomorrow.